No Greater Love
by FemaleChauvinist
Summary: After biting Carlisle when he stops her from attacking a human during a hunt, Esme is acting strange, and Carlisle wants to know why.


**Disclaimer:** While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle and other medical personnel are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Recognizable characters and plotlines are the property of Stephenie Meyer; all original characters and story © 2018 FemaleChauvinist.

 _Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety._

 **Carlisle**

I lifted my head from the deer I had just killed as a gentle breeze brought another scent to me… _human_.

A cold chill washed over me. _Esme_! She had been hunting upwind of me, and she was more sensitive to the scent of humans than I was. I jumped to my feet, leaving my prey untasted as I ran faster than I ever had before; almost faster than Edward. Branches and small trees snapped off as I didn't take the time to go around them. I followed the human's scent, knowing with sickening certainty that that was where I would find Esme.

When I saw her, she was just ready to jump off a small cliff onto the unsuspecting human below. " _Esme_!"

There was no way I could reach her in time, running, but with a flying leap I crashed into her, knocking her to the ground.

Still in the throes of her bloodlust, she growled and sank her teeth into my shoulder. "Esme," I said softly. "Esme, love…it's me."

It was impossible for me to lose my breath, yet I was nearly panting from the strain of running to catch up with her; the reaction from being almost too late.

Sanity slowly returned to her eyes, and with it a look of horror. "Carlisle…I _bit_ you!"

"It's nothing, love," I assured her. "You got my jacket more than anything else."

I let her push me aside, and she rolled out from under me and scrambled to her feet without meeting my eyes.

I got up as well and put my hands on her shoulders. "Esme —"

She shook me off, turning her head away. "I _bit_ you, Carlisle," she repeated in a low voice.

I drew a deep breath, and realized that the air was heavy with the scent of half-congealed blood. And the human apparently hadn't reacted to the thunderous crash when I slammed into Esme… I focused my hearing and was relieved to hear a heartbeat, though it seemed feeble and not quite steady.

"Esme, love," I said softly, "the human's injured; I have to go down and see what I can do for him. Will you be able to handle it if I ask you to bring me my bag?"

"I'm fine as long as I'm not hunting, Carlisle," she said almost shortly, and was running in the direction of the car before I could ask her what was wrong.

I jumped off the cliff to land beside the still figure. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?"

There was no response, and I lightly brushed my fingers across his forehead before pressing them to his pulse. His temperature was in the normal range, but his blood pressure was low…too low.

There was no difficulty finding the source of the bleeding; his shirt had been wrapped around his arm in a makeshift bandage that was soaked with blood. All things considered, it was a little surprising Esme had only bitten me once before I was able to break through her bloodlust.

I quickly unwrapped the arm, revealing a deep gash that ran from his shoulder to his elbow and still oozed blood. I found myself wondering how he had come by such an injury, even as I applied firm pressure to the nearby artery.

I turned my head at the sound of Esme's footsteps. "Thank you, love," I said quietly as she set my bag beside me. I reached to brush my lips across hers…but she wasn't there.

"I'll meet you at home, Carlisle," she said briefly.

"Esme? _Esme_!"

But she was gone.

And it made no sense. Her control was better than that; normally she would be trying to mother this man and it would be I who would send her away, not wanting her to burn with thirst. Maybe she didn't trust herself after having been interrupted in the middle of a hunt…but I had held her back before; it was one reason we seldom hunted alone. It had been _closer_ this time than ever before, but still…

I longed to run after her, but I knew I couldn't leave my patient; if I didn't get this bleeding stopped he didn't have much of a chance.

It took thirty-five stitches to close the wound; when I was finished I was satisfied that at least his condition was no worse. I applied antiseptic and a bandage, then picked him up and ran him to the car to drive him to the hospital.

We had occasionally come across injured humans in the woods in the past; often I would take them back to the house. But this man needed blood and intravenous fluids — and even if he hadn't, with the way Esme was acting I wasn't at all sure what kind of reception he would get at the house.

I called the hospital as I drove, alerting them that I was bringing the injured man in. Once there, I turned his care over to the doctor on duty at the emergency room; I had been known to stay myself to tend patients I brought in, but today I was anxious to get back to Esme.

The doctor didn't seem to think too highly of the fact that I had sewed the wound up _before_ bringing the man in; field medicine was out of favor these days. But I fixed him with a quiet gaze, and he fell silent; humans rarely argued with me when I was set on having the last word.

I drove home with the windows down, and left the car doors open when I parked in the driveway. I didn't mind the smell myself, of course, but it needed to air out before I would feel comfortable asking Esme to ride with me.

I frowned as I walked up to the front door; the traces of Esme's scent were old, from when we had left that morning. Had she come in through a window for some reason?

"Esme?"

There was no response, and I checked our bedroom and her little drawing alcove before heading up to my study in case she was waiting for me there. "Esme?"

"She's not here, Carlisle."

I turned to see Bella in the door of my study, looking at me curiously. "I thought she was out hunting with you," she continued.

"She was…she said she'd meet me here."

"Well, she hasn't come back that I know of."

"I'll have to track her, then," I murmured. I saw Bella's eyes fixed on the oval tear in my jacket, but I knew she'd consider it my business if I wanted to tell her, and not ask even if she was curious. "Do me a favor, Bella; call me if she comes back to the house while I'm gone."

"Sure." She hesitated, questions on the tip of her tongue, but stepped aside without asking them.

"Thanks, Bella," I said as I hurried past her and down the stairs.

I ran through the woods, backtracking along the path Esme would have taken if she had run straight home. I would go all the way back where I had last seen her, if I had to, and track her scent from there.

I wasn't fearful that anything had happened to her; she could take care of herself. I was merely anxious to find her and find out why she was acting so unlike herself.

I was nearly all the way back to where we had found the human before I picked up the trace of Esme's scent. I veered off, following it until it stopped abruptly. "Esme?" She could hardly have vanished into thin air.

I heard her sigh. "Up here, Carlisle."

I looked up and saw her sitting hugging her knees on a ledge of rock. With a jump, I caught the edge of the shelf and pulled myself up beside her. "Talk to me, love." *****

She stared out into the forest.

"Esme?" I prodded softly.

She whirled to face me, her eyes angry. "You care about your precious humans more than you care about me!" she hissed. "You'd tear me to shreds to save them!"

I felt my mind reel back at her words. "Esme, I would never," I said fervently. I would restrain her, but I wouldn't _fight_ her; if she struggled against me I wouldn't defend myself. If she was in danger, I would ignore the plight of any amount of injured humans in order to save her.

And just who had bitten whom here, anyway?

"But you _did_ ," she whispered. "Don't you think it tears me apart, Carlisle — to know that I bit you?"

Oh… I thought of my feelings, if ever I were to bite Esme, and I understood…in part. It still seemed hardly fair of her to blame _me_ for that bite. "Esme," I said slowly, "when I dove in front of you…it wasn't really the human I was thinking of."

She crossed her arms, turning away. "Oh, of course not! You paragon of control; you didn't want the embarrassment of a red-eyed wife!"

"Esme!"

"It's true, Carlisle," she said bitterly.

I reached out and grasped her chin to turn her face gently but insistently towards me. "Esme. _Nothing_ you could ever do would make me embarrassed or ashamed of you, _ever_." I slid my hand to cup her cheek and lifted my other hand to cradle her other cheek. "Esme, love, I understand that it tears thee apart to have bitten me… but how would thou feel if I hadn't stopped thee…if I had let thee kill him?"

Her eyes went wide, and she whimpered softly as she remembered the last time she _had_ slipped. "Carlisle…" she breathed.

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close; she came willingly now, to press her face against my chest. "Shh, Esme my love…I would do anything to keep thee from feeling that… _anything_. It was _that_ I was thinking of, Esme; not my pride or even the human's life, but keeping thee from having another 'slip' on thy conscience. This bite…it's nothing compared to that." I held her with both arms now, resting my chin against her hair.

It was some moments before she stirred and sat up. Half hesitantly, not meeting my eyes, she began unbuttoning my shirt until she could push the material off my shoulder.

I hadn't been lying when I said she got my jacket more than anything; after piercing the double layer of thick leather, her teeth had done little more than graze my skin.

She softly brushed her fingers over the mark. "Does it hurt, Carlisle?"

"No," I assured her quickly. "Oh, it stung a little at first, but it's fine now."

She smiled slightly and bent to press her lips to the bite. "I'm sorry," she breathed against my skin. She was apologizing for more than just the bite, I knew; for doubting my motives and running away…for accusing me.

Gently I turned her face to meet her lips with mine. "Esme, love…there's no one in the world I would rather be bitten by."

The End

 ***Illustration for this scene can be found at deviantart . com** _[slash]_ **femalechauvinist** _[slash]_ **art/Carlisle-and-Esme-777366223**

 _I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!_

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